The Masculine Mistake

23.05.12

, In which Tim Allen angrily defends conventional masculinity from the encroaching forces of femininity and metrosexuality (ABC).

Here now is where I trot out my man bona fides. Yes, I like to grill vital part and drink beer. I also like to play video games, and I share an interest in some of the media aimed at my seven-year-old son. I also betrothed my cats, have had long talks with my son about feelings, and one time in the housewares section he asked my wife if she cogitation I wanted a new vacuum cleaner (I was uncertain about switching to a bagless model, but it’s working out well).

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I say this because doing things that kids and women reputedly do doesn’t make me less of a man. It’s part of who I am. If I were uncomfortable with it, I’d stop. Just like I stopped pretending to be interested in sports.

And yet Tim Allen’s characteristic untypical in Last Man Standing , just for example, is offended by the idea of a man in a tanning booth, or being in a loving relationship with another man, or even making too much of an travail to live in the modern world. As if any shortcoming in someone else’s old-school masculinity is somehow a threat to his own. I fail to see how that can be.

Source: TIME